Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Middle Miocene decapod crustacean assemblage from the Tuzla Basin (Tušanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina), with a description of two new species and comparison with coeval faunas from Slovenia Rok Gašparič, Matúš Hyžný, Gordana Jovanović, Stjepan Ćorić, and Sejfudin Vrabac ABSTRACT A decapod assemblage consisting of three species is described from the upper Langhian (lower Badenian) of the Tuzla Basin in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The assem- blage is dominated by Retropluma minuta sp. nov. (Brachyura, Retroplumidae) and accompanied by Munidopsis salinaria sp. nov. (Anomura, Galatheoidea) and Portunus monspeliensis A. Milne Edwards, 1860 (Brachyura, Portunidae). Based on the calcare- ous nannoplankton, the studied assemblage is assigned to the upper part of the NN5 Zone. The studied assemblage is considered to have inhabited a shallow, near-shore depositional setting, as suggested by the microfossil association. Munidopsis, Por- tunus and Retropluma have previously been reported from Slovenia, the area closest to the Tuzla Basin with known decapod fossils. Contrary to shallow-marine settings of the localities studied herein, Munidopsis and Retropluma from Slovenian localities are reported from deeper-marine settings. The occurrence of near-complete individuals of Retropluma minuta sp. nov. suggests a wider bathymetric range of the genus in its evo- lutionary past than it has today. Rok Gašparič. Oertijdmuseum Boxtel, Bosscheweg 80, 5293 WB Boxtel, the Netherlands. [email protected] Matúš Hyžný. Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina G1, Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava 842 15, Slovakia; Geological-Paleontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7. A-1010 Vienna, Austria. [email protected] Gordana Jovanović. Natural History Museum Belgrade, Njegoševa 51, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. [email protected] http://zoobank.org/D4051238-1D9D-4F40-9271-70C05A822967 Gašparič, Rok, Hyžný, Matúš, Jovanović, Gordana, Ćorić, Stjepan, and Vrabac, Sejfudin. 2019. Middle Miocene decapod crustacean assemblage from the Tuzla Basin (Tušanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina), with a description of two new species and comparison with coeval faunas from Slovenia. Palaeontologia Electronica 22.1.9A 1-21. https://doi.org/10.26879/894 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2019/2430-decapods-from-the-tuzla-basin Copyright: February 2019 Paleontological Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), which permits users to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, provided it is not used for commercial purposes and the original author and source are credited, with indications if any changes are made. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ GAŠPARIČ ET AL.: DECAPODS FROM THE TUZLA BASIN Stjepan Ćorić. Geologische Bundesanstalt, Neulinggasse 38, 1030 Wien, Austria. [email protected] Sejfudin Vrabac. Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering Tuzla, Univerzitetska 2, 75000 Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [email protected] Keywords: Malacostraca; fossil; new species; taphonomy; bathymetry; palaeoenvironment Submission: 23 May 2018 Acceptance: 4 February 2019 INTRODUCTION graphic age was determined with the microfossil assemblage analysis presented herein and discus- Almost a century has passed since Glaess- sion on palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeo- nerʼs (1928) overview of Neogene decapods from graphic implications is also provided. what are now Austria and Slovenia, where he emphasised the need for studying fossil decapod GEOLOGICAL SETTING associations in the neighbouring countries. At about the same time, a monograph on fossil deca- The studied area is located in the Tuzla Basin, pods of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire was in the north-eastern part of Bosnia (Figure 1), published (Lőrenthey and Beurlen, 1929). The which is known for its rock-salt deposits. The Mio- beginning of modern research on fossil decapods cene infill, characterised by various lithologies, from Austria is dated to the second half of the reaches a thickness of approximately 2300 m twentieth century with works of Bachmayer (e.g., (Ćorić et al., 2007). The accessible exposures rep- Bachmayer, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1962; Bachmayer resent both siliciclastic and carbonate shallow- and Tollmann, 1953) and Müller (1984, 1998a, water sediments (Stevanović and Eremija, 1960). 1998b). Since the hallmark monograph on Bade- Middle Miocene (Badenian) sediments in the vicin- nian (= Langhian–early Serravallian) decapods by ity of the rock salt mine in Tuzla are exposed Müller (1984), the area once forming the Para- across a relatively large area with numerous fossil tethys Sea (Rögl, 1998, 1999; Harzhauser et al., sites. Microfossil assemblages are dominated by 2002, 2003) has received renewed attention at the foraminifers (Petrović, 1980; Vrabac and Miha- beginning of the twenty-first century. A number of jlović, 1990) and calcareous nannoplankton (Ćorić papers dedicated to Neogene decapod crusta- et al., 2007). Macrofossils are rare and consist of ceans of the northern part of the Pannonian Basin plant remains, foraminifera, pteropods, gastropods, System include studies on taxonomy, taphonomy, bivalves, decapods, echinoids, and fish (Steva- biodiversity, and distribution (e.g., Hyžný and nović and Eremija, 1960; Vrabac, 1990). Müller, 2010; Hyžný and Schlögl, 2011; Hyžný et Because of salt mine exploration and for al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Hyžný, 2016). However, understanding of its fossil content, the age of the there is only limited information about fossil deca- sedimentary filling of the Tuzla Basin has been dis- pods from the southern part of the Pannonian cussed for a long time. The sediments were Basin System (Mikuž, 2003; Gašparič and Hyžný, assigned to the middle Miocene (Badenian) based 2015; Gašparič and Ossó, 2016). This paper adds on the study of basin lithostratigraphy and foramin- further data on Neogene decapod crustaceans of ifera (Petrović, 1959; Stevanović and Eremija, the latter area. 1960; Jovanović, 1980; Soklić et al., 1980; Vrabac The earliest report of the Miocene fossil et al., 1990). According to the most recent study by assemblage from the site Dolnja Tuzla in Bosnia Vrabac and Ćorić (2008), the salt formation was and Herzegovina is that by Fuchs (1890), whereas deposited during the middle Miocene (early Bade- Bittner (1892) reported briefly on a ‘small unidenti- nian) in a gulf of the Central Paratethys Sea. fied crab’ from the same locality. Later, Stevanović Exploratory drilling in the roof of the salt formation and Eremija (1960) reported several ‘well-pre- in the Tuzla Basin indicates the presence of strata served impressions of crabs’ in the marls of an of all three parts of the Badenian stage with overly- immediate roof of a salt formation in Tušanj near ing Sarmatian sediments (Vrabac et al., 2013). Tuzla. This material has remained largely unstud- Based on calcareous nannoplankton, the age of ied until recently. The present contribution aims to the roof of the salt formation from the Tuzla Basin address this fossil decapod faunule in detail follow- was assigned to the lower Badenian NN5 Zone ing a recent re-study of the material. The strati- sensu Martini (1971) (Ćorić et al., 2007). 2 PALAEO-ELECTRONICA.ORG FIGURE 1. Simplified map of Bosnia and Herzegovina showing the fossiliferous locality Tušanj near Tuzla. The colour white represents pre-Cenozoic strata. Decapod specimens described herein come Tušanj, A. viennensis (d 'Orbigny, 1846) is docu- from two localities in the Tuzla Basin: the ventila- mented only 3 m above the salt formation (Vrabac tion shaft ‘Tušanj-2’ and the manhole in Simin Han et al., 2013). In Tušanj, similarly to the deposit in at Dolnja Tuzla. The localities are positioned Tetima, in the first 3 m following the salt formation approximately 6 km from each other. At both sites, foraminifera are extremely rare and planktic forms the presence of the roof of the salt formation is are dominant. From this information, as well as documented. Based on Bittner (1892), the initial from the borehole ‘IB-1’section, we conclude that exploratory salt shaft is dated to 1887; however, the decapod specimens from the ventilation shaft the ventilation shaft ‘Tušanj-2’, from which deca- in ‘Tušanj-2’ collected at a depth of 283 m belong pod specimens originate, was excavated in the to beds from the immediate proximity of the salt second half of the twentieth century (1953–1967). formation. The shaft ‘Tušanj-2’ is located approximately 30 m The investigated sediment from ‘Tušanj- from the exploration borehole ‘IB-1’ with the GPS 2’contained a rich association of calcareous nan- coordinates E 18°40'22" and N 44°32'57". The nofossils with Sphenolithus heteromorphus Deflan- manhole to the salt mine in Simin Han at Dolnja dre, 1953. Accompanied nannofossils included Tuzla is located at E18°45'01" and N44°31'53". Braarudosphaera bigelowii (Gran and Braarud, It is possible to establish the boundaries 1935) Deflandre, 1947; Coccolithus pelagicus between the salt formation and its immediate roof, (Wallich, 1877) Schiller, 1930; Helicosphaera car- which is located at a depth of 266 m (Vrabac and teri (Wallich, 1877) Kamptner, 1954; H. walbers- Mihajlović, 1990). The laminated and massive dorfensis Müller, 1974; Micrantholithus sp.; marls with a dominant foraminiferan assemblage of Reticulofenestra haqii Backman, 1978;